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Whooping Cough Vaccine Urged for New Moms - 01-22-2009
Back to All News ItemsIn a new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers note that most new parents are not aware that they should be vaccinated to prevent whooping cough in babies under two months old, as they are vulnerable to the potentially fatal illness and too young to be vaccinated. According to Tina Tan, co-author of the study and a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, parents are responsible for about 50 percent of whooping cough cases, and other household members are the cause of 25 percent to 35 percent of cases. Given that immunity lasts only six to eight years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges adults to receive the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine (Tdap). Another study by the State University of New York-Stony Brook shows the vaccine is given to just 2 percent of parents with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.
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